As my trip through Greece continues We make a stop in ancient Philippi.

First we went down to the likely location of the first meeting of Paul and Lydia. Their conversation led to the baptism of Lydia and her entire household ( Acts 16:11-15).

Throughout the trip I’ve had my ears open for what children might find interesting. Today such a thought came up when discussing the fact that Lydia was a business woman who sold purple cloth. Our guide shared one gross tidbit that I know the boys in my Bible classes would find interesting. The local method of the day for making purple dye was to crush a particular kind of seashell and mix it with human feces. Yuck!

Perhaps something to share next time you teach the Bible lesson “Lydia Becomes a Christian“.

After going to the river we toured the nearby ruins of the ancient city. We viewed the market area where Lydia might have sold her wares.

In this same city Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into jail. An earthquake later made the gates of the jail swing open and the chains on prisoners simply fall off. This led to the jailer becoming a Christian. You can read all about it in Acts 16:16-40 and the Bible lesson is at Jailer Becomes a Christian.

The photos above show jail cells at Philippi.

Happy teaching!